MOTHER 3: The Audacious March
by Curimuch
Summary: A bold gesture from Lucas to alter one person's sadness changed to wanting to save the entire world. Claus personally doesn't care for humanity, he cares to help the wish of his twin come true. But is one heart alone big enough to alter the lives of many? Sequel fic to Stand up Strong. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: And the time skip sequel to "Stand up Strong" begins! Aren't you all excited? I sure am! I tried to change the way I write this chapter and I'm definitely very satisfied with how it came out, if proud even!**

Smoky hill

The Lightning tip

The charred house

The place where the sun light sprinkles

Those were just some of the names the old home south of Tazmilly received over the four years. One resident of the house gave it the name, 'the place where the sun light sprinkles' because every sunny morning, the sun would shine through all the damaged holes in its stand. He was sound asleep despite sun rays shinning in from all corners of the old wooden structure. It shone directly on his messy blonde hair and warmed his pale skin as he continued to sleep. The higher the summer sun rose up in the sky, the more it covered the eroding house and the young man inside.

"_Cluck, cluck, cluck._"

"_Cluck, cluck, cluck!_"

Chickens found their way into the room and their little claws tapped around the old damaged floor. They were gaining momentum to attempt flight to the soft platform where their owner slept. One smaller hen succeeded at her attempt and claw-gripped her way across the messy blankets and onto the bare back of Lucas. He rose up immediately while burying his fingers into the pillow he was once hugging in his sleep. He looked around when he heard the sounds of his chickens scattered about and felt the one pacing around on his bed.

He replied to the rude awakening with a disapproving frown; he still wasn't very capable of scowling no matter what was dished out at him. He checked his sensitive back for cuts or blood which it thankfully did not have, and carefully stepped out of bed. "I think I've slept in..." He murmured and tapped around the top of shelves and cases for his glasses. His fingers traced against smooth steel that meant he touched the top frame of his glasses, because the the handles and bridge of the glasses were bandaged to stay together until he could get himself a brand new pair. He placed them over his eyes and blinked to adjust; though still relatively blurry, he was able to finally see that he had indeed slept in.

"Oh gee, it's noon..." He sighed and pulled out the dresser drawer to find some clothes to wear outside. Unlike Claus, he didn't have the galls to walk around shirtless no matter how hot it was, neither did he feel like he had much to show off anyways. He came across sleeveless shirts that were all dark shades of colors made for heavy work. None of these were his, neither were the multiple pairs of cargo pants... "Oh. Right. I didn't do my set of laundry... whoops."

His cheeks flushed a deep red as he pulled out the dark blue pants and black sleeveless shirt. These were definitely not his colors or style choice, but it'd have to do, he had important tasks today; laundry could happen another day...or three. He was still taller than Claus, so the length of the pants were not a problem, but the _shirt_... so much was bared. He was hoping that no one would look at him for too long or ask why he was wearing Claus's clothes when he goes to town; this was hard enough as it was.

He looked at the fogged mirror and blushed even more, especially at the shade of his cheeks and his eyebrows crinkled with embarrassment. His birds pecked at his legs to hurry up, and he grabbed a large beige hip bag and fastened it on. He at least remembered what he definitely needed and walked out of his room. He ignored his growling tummy, grabbed for the chicken feed and hurried out of the house. The sun temporarily made his vision even _worse _when it glared into his obsolete glasses. He winced for a moment until the chickens pecked at the bag in his hold.

"Hey, I know I'm late! But behave!" He scolded and shook them off while ignoring their angry screeches. He went around the back side of the house where their fencing was and tossed plenty of grain into their bins before shutting the fence. Tying the bag up tightly and hiding it from any possible petty thieves or chimeras. He was now ready to go into town and to 'the old man's paradise'. On the way there he ignored the snooty glances of the 'sight see-ers' that often came to take pictures and talk about his eroding house and kept running north in a hurry.

"Lucas! What are you doing in _Claus's_ gear? You're not muscular enough for his stuff!" Ritchie rudely shouted. The larger item shop was always the first thing seen from his entry to town, and always, Ritchie was there to shout at he and Claus. He wasn't one to argue and kept running to his destination. Not every part of Tazmilly was covered in fancy brick roads and brick buildings just yet, the east part of town was still very green excluding the new training ground where newly recruiting soldiers were trained at. To this day Lucas still couldn't fathom how Butch could sell _the entire property_ to turn into some kind of noisy camping ground.

The thought crossed his mind every time he had walked past the place to where he worked, and where he spent his days at was just as depressing. The cold, poorly installed and wriggling doorknob he grabbed reminded him every single day. Upon entry, he would walk on wet, creaky floorboard worse than the one at his own home, moldy walls that had a lingering smell, and the saddened faces of the elderly strangers not even he could get to know. They were like shells waiting for somebody else that never came for them; some even developed a jaded sense of humor.

"Sarah, how about you go play hide and go sweep or pin the tail on the leak?"

"Okay grandma..."

Lucas didn't know the little girl personally, but he did at least know the name of her and the cold old lady named Margaret. He wondered what it was like having her as a grandparent, if he so much offered a cookie to the little girl, she would wince and say she couldn't take it, and do whatever 'play' she was suggested to do day after day. He shook his head and didn't see Nan who was likely with her growing daughter Alle, and if Linda wasn't downstairs, she definitely wasn't in at all. Ever since Mike's strange comment and her accusation of 'sexual harassment', she avoided going to the upstairs quarters.

Lucas had slowly been fixing up the upstairs part and it was a noticeable improvement compared to the wreckage downstairs he had yet to get to, but there was absolutely nothing that he could do about where the poor people laid their aging bodies for rest. Some were unfortunate to have springs poking through the mattress, so he croqueted them an extra layer to lay on. Eventually, he managed to make everyone their own colored layer for comfort, only a few expressed gratitude, but he didn't mind, as long as something was done about this. Neither did it net him extra pay he didn't care too much for, either. As urged as he was to continue his work, he was just so concentrated on something that involved old man Wess. He entered his room and saw him sulking at a table. Usually he was a very boastful and prideful man, but as time reigned on, his spirit diminished more and more.

"Salutations...!" Lucas greeted hesitantly. The man's posture was just so heart breaking to witness, he wondered if something else had happened for him to be this way.

He was caught by surprise, but straightened his posture and answered, "Salutations..." He cleared his mumbly voice and asked, "what brings you here?"

Lucas laughed, "you bring that up everyday, Wess, but good thing you asked yet again!"

"Huh, why?"

"I'm going to investigate the where abouts of Duster! I've heard more rumors and they sound very promising. The description...the area where the river stops...it all adds up, Wess."

"...But why, Lucas?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you going through the trouble? You're much too kind..."

"Oh, Wess! Please don't question it! Duster deserves to be found and you deserve to have some happiness! When I get him, I'll definitely bring him back to you right away! Don't dwell on it!" Lucas exclaimed and hurried out of the room. He didn't want to get into a silly argument, and he was eager to see his theories through. He didn't run for the exit, but a few rooms over where the old frog was. He thought it was strange how the pigmasks imprisoned _every_ old thing in here, animals and people alike. The way the old frog stared at him day after day was as if it was trying to talk to him but couldn't reach out to him.

When he thought about it, that wasn't the only frog that intently stared at, or even followed him. He shrugged and opened the door to see his grandfather staring at anything _but_ the happybox on his desk. On the ground was Boney on a specially made mat of his own.

"Hi, grandpa, hi Boney," Lucas greeted. He crouched down to Boney's level to pet him; he gotten even less active in his old age. It bothered Lucas how animals aged differently than he, thirteen years felt so little and yet Boney was always on his mat like the passed Scamp used to be in his bed. He winced at the thought of Scamp, he was sure that Boney had a few more in him. "Boney, wanna go on a walk with me today?" The old brown dog peeked an eye open in reply and mumbled. "C'mon, Boney, pleeeease?" The dog sighed and stretched as his yes.

Lucas did come by with treats often, pet him often, and made him that ever comfy mat to lay on. He could accompany on a walk.

A walk he didn't know that was going to be many, _many_ miles worth.

When Lucas stood up, his grandfather was still staring at the wall motionlessly without a word to him. "_Is he waiting for some kind of correct trigger?" _Lucas wondered in his mind. Or was he waiting for Claus to come see him and call him grandpa? That young man grown to detest his existence and never acknowledged the fact he was recently moved into 'the old man's paradise'? He gave Alec a few seconds of hope of a reply before giving in and leaving with Boney. He quietly closed the door and made his way out of the staffless work place and back into the outdoors.

He recalled Wess stating that he restocked the back of the building with thunder bombs and though he didn't _want_ to be resorted into using them, he knew he was likely going to have to when the going got tough. Inside were two thunder bombs in a little white box that was once wrapped closed with a silky red ribbon. The bombs made him think of Claus, they were certainly like him in nature; electrifying, explosive, kinda small but dangerous, the works. He smiled as he carefully pocketed them in his hip bag and hurried to town. Sleeping in today of all days was something he cursed himself for. If he hadn't he could've gone about this mission at his own pace, but now he needed to get as far as possible before it got dark.

His growling tummy also reminded him he slept past breakfast and was pretty much going through lunch time without a bite; he couldn't venture like this...! Stopping by Caroline's newly designed house and store hybrid, he stopped in front of the sliding glass doors that still amazed him somewhat. As pointless as they were, they were rather intriguing. Boney on the other hand hated these modern structures and rules; they all banished him. Oh how he hated the 'no dogs allowed' sign so much and how they said he was 'unsanitary'. _How rude._

Inside, Angie was idly sitting down in her usually well mannered way in a pretty yellow sun dress that showed her matured body type nicely. She was always pretty when young, but she had grown up more beautifully than she gave herself credit for.

"Hello, Angie!" Lucas quickly gotten flustered when he saw her surprised, but bewildered expression. He had forgotten he was wearing Claus styled attire.

"Haha, Lucas, you look like Fuel in that. Are you trying something new? Trying to show off to single ladies or something?" She chuckled and made her way over to her good friend.

"Aha...no, it's just I forgot to do my chores and had to borrow an outfit of his..." He chuckled sheepishly. "Angie, I have several favors to ask."

"Oh? Go on," she encouraged.

"First, I need pen and paper," he said.

"Okay," she replied and and went to get the pen and paper. "I'm still in ear shot, by the way!"

"And can you, if available, get some doggy biscuits and plenty of nut bread or bread rolls!"

"Huh, really? Why?"

"Going on a trip, don't say anything for me? "

"Uhh, sure, sweetheart." She returned with a modern pen and some modern accented paper. Lucas didn't mind, he just needed to quickly write his letter and get going before things got complicated. "Thank you for all of this," he stated with a smile and began quickly writing his letter.

"Are you uh, going on a far trip...?"

"Possibly...I dunno, I'm just taking precautions," he answered truthfully.

"Lucas...you're not doing anything dangerous, are you?" Angie sternly asked with the carefully wrapped goods.

"Well it's not like I'm jumping into the face of dangers, I just know that danger is a possibility," he answered truthfully yet again. Lucas just didn't have a lying bone in his body.

"So why won't you take Claus with you? He's a tough, strong guy that can go through anything and you'll be safe," she sternly advised with a hand on her hip. "Nobody wants you hurt, or poisoned, or worse: eaten out there!"

"Oh, Angie! I'll be fine, I'm not a helpless person!" Lucas was on the verge of whining adorably, but this was a serious peeve of his. While he knew they cared, he was as much of a capable adult as the rest of them. "Please don't send Claus out after me, he's over worked as it is."

"I won't, but you should know he'll be hot on your trail the second he notices," Angie answered and shrugged.

Lucas couldn't help but chuckle at that statement because it was so true. He exchanged the neatly folded paper for the goodies that was able to fit into his bag.

"Thank you so much, Angie. Also, Fuel should be here soon for his usual break, give him that letter, please."

"Alrighty. Be careful, Lucas! Don't drop your glasses again, and don't think too much while walking that you walk into something again! Those flimsy things need to be replaced and should've been ages ago!"

"O-okay, Angie...B-bye!" He exclaimed and hurried out to escape the nagging. He had a doggy biscuit in hand and gave it to Boney. "Bon-bon, c'mon, it's time to go. I'll bribe you with this entire bag of doggy biscuits if I have to."

He had absolutely no qualms with this and agreed wholeheartedly.

Lucas knew he definitely didn't have the funds to take a train _and_ get tickets to the D.C.M.C concert, so he had to do the brave thing and enter the the train tunnel with his ever loyal and hungry dog.


	2. Chapter 2

"It feels like an oven in here..." Lucas panted as he slugged his feet through the sandy ground. "Boney, we're not too far ahead, maybe you should go back..."

"Rrrowf."

"You're old, Boney. I don't want to make you ill, so go on, I can handle this." He stopped in his tracks to look at his dog who refused to leave, even though he was panting as much as he to keep cool. He frowned and asked, "You're not going, are you?" He watched as his dog went on ahead of him as his answer. Lucas sighed and trekked on with his dog. So maybe he was a little careless for once, not thinking about how hot a train tunnel could be. Usually he would be patient enough to save up more money, but after that conversation he over heard Bronson have with someone he simply got so eager.

As he traveled, he wondered if those running mushrooms were natural or if they were genetically altered, but they avoided him and he avoided them in respected return. The hot tunnel was killing his once ignored and demanding appetite, and he only had so much water that he could swing down at just the start of the travel. He huffed, "I could be out of shape..." Boney couldn't tell him that he very well thought he was out of shape, he only snorted and kept lead; he sensed something near by. "Boney, is something wro-" He winced when he heard a ferocious growling, and his face shifted to horror when he saw a strange white dog with a mushroom growing out of its head almost like a giant parasite.

He tightened his grip on his steel pole and braced. He really didn't want to get into a fight, neither did he expect to get into a fight with anything in this hot and dark tunnel; those chimeras were just about everywhere. Boney growled at the chimera in turn, but it wasn't making the odd creature falter one bit. Boney continued to take his ground, though brave, he was exhausted from the heat. The mushroom mutt launched for Boney's jugular, but Boney jumped out of the way and swiped his small claws at it. The muttshroom yelped and changed target for the more timid human that accompanied the dog. Lucas shut his eyes tight and swung his hardest; hearing an unsettling crack shortly afterward.

He slowly opened his eyes to see it bleeding on the ground and it turned his stomach. He continued to stare at the bleeding and unmoving carcass in horror. He didn't like the sight of blood, neither did he like the sight of death, and definitely not being the one to bring it. He would have stood there reflecting until he passed out from dehydration if Boney didn't nip him back into shape. He yelped and looked down at his dog that gave him a rather powerful stare that told him to keep going. It took a second tug at his pants leg to make him take the next step, as well as turn away from the killed chimera.

He was relieved to see the outdoors, thinking the tunnel was coming to an end, but it in fact wasn't. He frowned heavily and took a look around his surroundings. The train tracks still stretched out to the oblivion, and there were more and more odd mushrooms about, being pecked by birds with...sticks for bodies. Curiosity over took him this time as he slowly approached the group of stick bodied birds. The other two twirled around endlessly, and one had a struggling legged mushroom in its mouth. It intrigued and confused Lucas, its body was so tiny and looked synthetic...so what would it have a need to eat? Where would it go?

Even though Boney was barking for him to move on in reminder that time was not on their side, the ever curious Lucas continued to examine and think about the stick bodied birds. He wondered if he plucked it from the ground would it be okay? He almost wanted to take it with him on the trip just because of how cute its beady little eyes were. He slowly reached for it, the same cute, beady eyes innocently blinking at him as he reached for its stem. He gently gripped it, and just as carefully wiggled it from the dirt, the bird still did not make a noise. Soon, it was lifted from the soil and it continued to blink at him. The strange bird-thing had no feet but an opening at the bottom-so was it a straw bird?

He shrugged and walked on, staring at the bird that continuously blinked at him. Boney was uneasy that he picked up that strange creature as if he didn't kill another evil one back in the train tunnel. As soon as they were a ways in at the second train tunnel, the bird suddenly began squawking non-stop. He idly wondered just what was wrong with it until he heard Boney making just as much noise, but behind him. Lucas turned around to see a metal drill armed mole and its cohorts charging its way over, as if it was responding to a siren alarm. Not knowing what to do, he ran off and called, "C'mon, Boney!" The bird didn't stop its hollering and it was certainly giving him a headache, but he couldn't just _throw_ the bird away after plucking it up from its pact so carelessly.

He endured the noise and kept running for his dear life.

At the red bridge, Boney had tackled his rump, causing Lucas to bump into the railing and drop the offending stick-bird off the edge. He watched it disappear in shock then whipped his head back at Boney to ask what was he thinking before he saw Chimeras of all kinds after them. Was that bird really a siren after all? As they closed in, he ran backwards, desperately digging in his pouch for a last resort thunder bomb. His heart skipped a beat when his fingers stuck to it just long enough to fling it at the chimeras.

The first bomb stunned them, and the second scared them away with their injuries.

He let himself fall on his rump and breathe in and out very roughly. So much had happened, so many dangerous things at such a short time, his body was certainly getting an extreme work out. Once he and Boney had caught up with their breath, he continued on. He couldn't hold it against Boney for making him drop the bird to its doom, it was the one threatening their safety after all, but he still couldn't help but feel at fault. _If only I hadn't plucked it out of the ground...stupid me._

Some kind of force stopped him in his tracks. It felt almost magnetic enough to make him turn to a mountain wall that had a stapled ladder going up it. As he walked closer to it, he felt like it _pulled_ him closer to it... Boney tilted his head with a questioning whine. He was strangely hearing a voice in his head...an odd voice. The way it sang in his head was almost similar to how he would hold conversations with Claus occasionally. He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard and saw Lucas climbing up the metal ladder. Lucky for Boney he had a talent for doing odd things, and climbing ladders was one of them.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Boney heard Lucas cry. When he took another step up, he got his head stepped on. "Oh! I'm sorry to you too, Boney!" Lucas shrieked his apologies.

"Oh, sugar! It's okay, I don't mind at all! Come back here!" Some masculine voiced stranger replied. Lucas was hesitant at first, but he couldn't climb down with Boney in the way either. He didn't like to be around people in hot springs but... he climbed back up to the top. The person's back was facing and he could see that they had short pink hair, pink hair that reminded him of Kumatora. "You know it's been years since I've last seen you!"

...Was it really Kumatora?

"I..I don't recall ever meeting you before..." Lucas replied. He jumped slightly when the mysterious pink haired person turned around and looked rather manly.

They stared at each other for a moment before the person placed an index finger on their chin and murmured, "Wait...no you're not him! You are so similar on the inside, though~"

"...Huh?"

"The loads of magical power that I feel, sweetie. Though, when I take the time to read it, I realized my hasty mistake~ "

"It sounds like you know Claus...!" Lucas hesitantly exclaimed once his brain absorbed the explanation of the pink haired stranger.

"Ooohh right! That was his name~ He had distinguishable red hair and his power made his green eyes glow a certain way~"

"That's him," Lucas informed with a smile. "When did you meet him?"

"Oh, several years ago. He was a tiny rambunctious thing wanting to get stronger and all of that. I wonder if he's making great use of it~"

"I...I'd say so."

"Oh, my manners! My name is Ionia~"

"I'm Lucas."

"Oh my! Even your names match!" Ionia giggled . "I must see if your powers really do match too~ The signatures are almost close..."

"W-wait you're saying I have them too?" Lucas grew incredibly excited at the news. "W-what do we have to do?" His excitement knew no bounds, he couldn't recall a time he's ever felt this ecstatic before.

"Well, you need to get into this body of water first~"

On a normal set of mind Lucas would either question it or run away, but the sheer amount of excitement and the person apparently knowing Claus drove him to go ahead and do as told. Boney was barking and whining but he went on deaf ears as always. He climbed to the top of the platform and sulked as he watched Lucas go into the hot springs next to the strange person.

"...Now what?"

"Just bare with me for a few moments and take a deep breath!"

And Lucas was submerged.

**A/N: I apologize for the length of this chapter but I really wanted to get a chapter out and let people know why I've slowed down in pace. Pokemon Black&White are out and have been out for awhile now, and I am totally absorbed in it. It took all of my mojo and I wanted to give the readers a chapter and a notice on what was happening. Like last time with Stand up Strong, when I have my full inspiration and motivation back, I'll update regularly with it's quality staying at its peak. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I apologize in advance for the rusty writing in this chapter. I'm getting back into habit after not writing this in so long. I also hate how FFnet removes question marks next to exclamation marks and vice versa. Ugh. **

Another lightning bolt has struck.

It wasn't a mysterious one that struck an old fashioned home, it was one with flare that struck a military base. A white pigmask was angered yet again and yelled, "That _goddamned _Claus! Always causing a wreck!"

"Hey, with every house struck, you guys get struck. Fair exchange, t'me." The high class soldier looked around for the source of the voice that came from up high in a tree. When he looked up, he spotted that trouble making teen giving him that infuriating grin of his that had more spirit behind it than he would like.

"Boy, we're going to dock your pay for this!"

The cheeky grin on his face turned into a smirk at his reaction. He laughed, "I don't have to pay you guys shit."

"You don't think I've heard you've been working for us this month?"

"Part time, and I already got paid." He raised a mocking brow and shrugged. When the pigmask threateningly raised a laser gun up at him, he raised both eyebrows in amusement. The opposing man fired, and he reflected it with his PSI. "Oh, damn, you got a nasty hole burned into that awesome cape this time." He chuckled at the pigmask growling and snarling his frustrations; 'victory' for Claus yet again. He hopped out of his tree and ran off, his deeds for today done.

Now all he had to do was find Lucas.

In the past, he would always accidentally break off the door knob to the 'Old man's paradise', but since Lucas finally talked to him about it, he was _a little_ more conscious about it. Inside, he saw none of the workers and raised an eyebrow. He jogged up the stairs and again, no one. One room was Mike's, next he skipped over, and last was Wes who he had no interest in either. The entire place was silent... where could he be? He sighed and left, and just as he was making a turn to the hill to town, he stepped back in time to not walk into Fuel who was staring at an envelope.

"Fuel, have you-"

"Oh, there you are," Fuel sighed right over his words. "I know whenever you're over here you're either looking for Lucas or causing trouble..."

"Fuel-"

"Anyways, take this."

"Fuel-!" The envelope was shoved into his chest. He growled in annoyance but took a look at it. Ignoring the handwriting for a second, he grumbled, "The hell for? It's addressed to you!"

"Wow, I'm shocked you didn't notice right away?" Fuel idly commented with a quirked brow. Claus was confused and looked at the letter. _Nooow_ he noticed! It was _Lucas' _handwriting.

"...What are you handing it to me for? What did Lucas write to you about?"

"Just open it."

"Ugh, you're such an ass," he groaned and ripped the top open, even if the envelope was already opened the correct way. He scanned it quick, catching keywords such as 'trip', 'don't know how long', and 'D.C.M.C' before shouting, "You didn't stop him?"

"_Obviously_ I found out through the letter, you hot blooded moron!"

"And couldn't you have just told me foremost?"

"Because if I did you would've just ran off without even knowing where to go the moment "Lucas left" left my mouth!"

"_Ugh!_ Whatever! I'm going _right now!_" As he exclaimed this, he yanked the back of Fuel's arm and added, "and you're coming with me!"

"What? But I have work to do! I was just on brea-agh!" It was now his turn to be dragged away and against his power; Claus was much stronger than him. "Why do I have to go with you? You're fine on your own over-protective quest!"

"Don't you care about Lucas, Fuel?"

"Of course I do! This is why I don't like dealing with you when you get all irrational and hot blooded. Lucas is _fine_. Everyone goes to the DCMC concert every now and again. _Just. Fine._ " He did not falter one bit when Claus glared at him and tightened the grip on his forearm. "Stop it." When his arm was freed, he pulled his arm away and glared just as hard as Claus had. It was short lived when he sighed, "I need to give Lucas his new pair of glasses I made for him anyway... "

"Then let's go already..." He sighed. He did not move until he saw Fuel walk a satisfiable amount first. The moron then picked up his own pace, Fuel also picked up pace, and just as Claus started to move even faster...

"I'm not running so you can just forget about that." Again, he ignored Claus's challenging expression and walked ahead. An admirable effort stopped when he was grabbed and tossed atop his friend's shoulder. "H-hey! Put me down! Claus, this is embarrassing, stop it!"

"The more you yell about it the more attention will be brought over to you." He was satisfied with the quickened pace as well as Fuel's 'abiding' silence.

.-.-.-.

Once they reached the outskirts of town, Fuel insisted that _yes,_ he'll finally run with Claus. As much as he didn't want to, it was less embarrassing and attention seeking than being carried around was. With his own freedom, however, he was able to go back into Angie's bakery with the ever impatient Claus behind him. He sighed with exasperation to Angie, "did Lucas take a lot of stock from you, Ange?"

"Nope...he was really modest about it. I think he'll be okay, though. Lucas doesn't look for danger, Fuel."

"Oh, it's not me, it's that guy," he pointed behind him to the grumpy red head tapping his foot outside. Luckily, his back was turned, but even from that angle one could tell he had an impatient scowl with his arms crossed.

"Aha...Right. Let me pack you two something and you can hurry on ahead..."

'Thanks, Angie, I'll pay for it."

"No, no...it's okay," she giggled. She quickly made her way back and handed the goods directly into his hands to stop him from going into his pockets. "Really."

"...Really, Angie?" She nodded as her soft hands pulled away from his work ridden rougher ones. "...Well, if you ever need anything I'm always there."

"I know, Fuel. And I really appreciate-" She stopped speaking when she saw Claus come in and went for her desk. She didn't want to deal with him either, but at the same time... "Gee, I can see why Lucas was in a hurry to get away from you, smotherer." She stuck her tongue out at him after her playfully snide comment. Fuel was shocked and tensed that she daringly poked at something like this. Without turning his stiff body around, his eyes traced back over to Claus who had an angry pout than anything...threatening.

"He was in a hurry because he wanted to see DCMC for awhile now, and I was doing extra just so he could go but I didn't say why that I was. But... I wasn't fast enough in delivering the surprise to him."

"Oh." That warranted a frown from Angie, but not an apology. "Well, go on, I doubt he travels that fast, especially with old fat Boney tagging along. Train's probably just arriving back here to go there again."

"Well uh...better get going then!" Fuel sheepishly added, waved at Angie and pulled the sulking Claus out. "Did you suddenly loose your drive to go?" He chuckled at him.

"No." His soured expression showed otherwise.

"You've must've not read the whole letter." Claus did not reply so he continued. "He wants to confirm the rumors he's heard about, that's all."

"Rumors...? About what?"

"One of them being Duster or something? I dunno, I don't pay attention to rumors too much myself." He looped an arm over Claus's shoulder and state, "we should go anyways." Claus shrugged in reply. "We'll even ride the ~green train~!" Shrug. The brattish shrugging made him chuckle and tug him over to the train station. Even if Claus felt like serious dead weight at the moment, and Fuel really didn't feel like going on the trip himself, it was better to go than having a sulking friend hanging about.

But the green train was driving away...

It made the sour redhead laugh bitterly, "Yeah, I get it." And an exasperated sigh leaves his lips.

"Get what?"

"I'm just too slow?"

Fuel looked over at the tunnel and back at Claus. Normally he wouldn't, but Claus sometimes could inspire him to do stupid and stubborn things. He suggests a little hesitantly, "What about going through there by foot?" That made his deflated friend raise an eyebrow at the suggestion. That was certainly...

"So unlike you."

"Well... whatever, let's just go. You didn't drag me around for nothing."

"Whatever."

"Yeah whatever." Snort. Right away Fuel could feel the heat exit out of the tunnel, even if he wasn't the first to enter. Claus had pulled away from him and entered the tunnel first. It only felt right for him to begin a dangerous adventure; almost nostalgically. "Well, we're going to have to walk through the inconvenient gravel..."

"Obviously the whole route is inconvenient, Fuel." Another exchange of snorts passed as they traveled together silently from that point on. Soon, they came across a carcass of a muttshroom. Immediately, Claus gone to examine it.

Fuel didn't think that was such a pleasant idea.

"Dude, why."

"Just to see what happened here..." He answered and continued to examine it. "If it were a chimera that done this... it'd be eaten than left just like this. It was also done just recently by the look of this." The puddle was growing but not by much; the body still looked as fresh as it can be. "And the bite mark I see...there's only one and it's small and clean..." He only saw one set of puncture wounds but they were too small and clean to be done by a chimera... Then the blunt strike at the top at the opposite angle... "Lucas and Boney went through this tunnel."

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"I know these things, Fuel. Come on, we have to hurry again!" Not giving Fuel the chance to react he ran on ahead.

"Hey, I'm as worried as you are, but running around in this oven isn't going to help our condition, Claus!" He didn't bring Claus to a total slow down, but at least he wasn't running anymore. "How will we find him, anyways?"

"Don't know, don't care, just going to...!" He rushed as much as one could rush through walking: speed walking.

They would stop occasionally where he'd 'sense' traces or things that had gone amok. Things such as the now even numbered squawk sticks and one of them being _plucked_ out of the ground. Further ahead he could sense the lingering currents of thunder bombs. After awhile he dropped his shoulders and sighed. Fuel also sighed, but sighed out, "Lucas..." He looked over to his friend and asked, "lost your lead?"

"...Yeah." He answered and looked around carefully. He really couldn't pick up anything else. "I'll just keep doing my best." He peered left and right as he walked, almost a little _too_ focused for Lucas that he almost stepped on a pile of clothing until Fuel called out that fact. He took a cautious foot back to look down, and his face immediately soured.

"What?" Fuel asked as he came over. He tilted his head up at Claus before tilting it down to curiously look at the pile of clothing. "Ahh I see why! It looks like lady's clothing~" Oh how Claus wanted to say 'no, no it does not belong to a lady', but instead he looked up the ladder that suspiciously looked like staples. He climbed up a bit before he looked back and gripped the ladder in disgust.

"Fuel don't...just don't. You'll regret it more the longer you hold on to those."

"They're the fanciest I've seen, though, I can't help it... So smooth." He continued to stretch the pink underwear but not enough to cause noticeable wear to them. Claus sighed and hesitantly climbed up the ladder. He wouldn't of it he didn't feel like he had to. The closer he got the more his eyebrows twitched as well as the edge of his mouth into a crooked frown.

"Oooh here he is~ I had a feeling you'll be here soon! Hello, Claus!"

"...Hi." He looked off to the side as he replied. He did not want to see _curly_ _pink hair _and Ionia naked.

"Look, have you seen a blonde-"

"Young man pass here? Yes I did. He's as docile and sweet as a lamb~"

"...Whatever can you just tell-"

He had a knack of being cut off today because Ionia sung and cooed, "He has the biggest heart I have ever felt and seen. What a gift he has!" And while Ionia rambled away, Claus was ready to go down the ladder until Fuel came up.

"Hey, Claus," he climbed further up, to the top when Claus moved out of the way. He opened his eyes and looked over to the spring. "what are you doing...up...here..." He stared at the manly person with pink hair on the head and chest. No one else was in there but him; and the underwear was the exact same color of his pink. His eyes grew small.

"Oh, oh! Who is your cute friend, Claus?"

As he climbed down the ladder he answered,"Fuel," and continued to go down without him.

"Oho~ Well, call me Ionia, sugar!" Fuel continued to stare in shock, Claus's nonchalant words of regret ringing over and over in his mind. "You're such balance to his handsome!"

Claus shook his head as he continued to climb down. The woes of having a heightened sense of hearing.

"I-I should go now. B-bye, Ionia-er...!" He hurried after Claus, and once they've reach solid ground, he cried in a fritz, "why didn't you say anything to me?"

"I may have not said why but I said not to. You'll get over it-" He quickly moved out the way when he tried to touch him.

"Mighty fast reflex for someone saying to get over it!"

"Just because _you_ touched Ionia's draws doesn't mean you have to make me indirectly touch them!" Now he was defensive and on edge, eying Fuel's limbs for a sudden step or hand swipe.

"How do you know of Ionia anyways? What is he!"

"They have no gender even if they look like men!" He distanced himself from the angry Fuel a little more and continued. "...And they're fairies."

"What."

"Y'know... the ones Alec talked about. Magypsies."

"...They're real?"

"...Real enough to touch their draws." He jumped back and ran when Fuel swiped at him again. "Anyways...! We need to find Lucas and stop trying to bad touch me!" Eventually, he came to a halt when he felt his senses tingle once again. Psi was 'leaking' somewhere... and it set him on a temporary edge. He had to translate it, and walked slowly towards the direction of it to accomplish this. It didn't feel like a chimera's, and it felt... soothing almost. His once cautious walking was almost hypnotic until he heard a familiar bark. He gasped, "Boney!" and hurried in pace. There he was, that fat brown dog wagging his tail in relief and greeting.

"Ugh...this is the worst fever I've ever felt..."

"Lucas!" His loud exclamation indirectly lead Fuel over to them.

"Hey, Lucas! You look beat!"

"Guys...guys, sorry for making you worry but all of you crowding around me is only making me... only makes me hotter..." Lucas murmured in an uncomfortable, confused haze as he lazily fanned himself with his hand. Boney and Fuel backed up, but Claus didn't.

"What?" While the answer to Lucas's fever should've been terribly obvious to Claus, he was still a blender of relief, excitement, worry, annoyance, joy, and many more.

"I got it too..." he panted . " PSI..."

Oh.

"...What kind?"

"...After years of these fevers and experiencing it... you're acting new to it...?" He laughed weakly. "I don't know..."

"O-oh...right." And he laughed sheepishly. "How long, Lucas?"

"Just recently the fever...really caught me by surprise and I just didn't feel like walking anymore... so Boney _dragged_ me 'ere."

"Oh, so you're not totally an old fart, huh."

_"I'm still competent, thank you very much."_

"Lucas..." Fuel began as he pulled out a box. "I made you some new glasses. You _really_ need to get a new pair. Not those unstylishly thick ones, either. I made them thin and sleek, okay?"

"Heh heh..okay, Fuel. When I don't feel like I'm being baked from the inside out..." There was so many questions that Claus wanted to ask Lucas. So many whys and hows, but alas, he couldn't, not when he was trying to lax this fever away.

Lucas was certainly going to get an ear full when it passes.


	4. Chapter 4

Once his fever had lifted, he treated himself to the new pair of glasses. They were thin and a maroon color, and they weren't so thin that they would break easily. Once placed it had such a light weight and comfortable feeling.

"Thank you, Fuel. It's like they aren't even there."

"That's the point!" Fuel laughed. He smiled and winked as he continued, "they're also a good color for you and can go with anything you happen to wear too."

"Blah blah, Fuel. I don't see why that even matters..." Claus muttered under his breath. "Not to say they aren't nice but..."

"Of course you wouldn't understand, neither do I have the time to explain-"

"Because there's nothing to explain."

Fuel's eyebrow twitched as he restrained himself from taking the bait that would lead to yet another verbal fight. Forcing a smile that became crooked, he raised a hand up and stated, "Yeah, because I have to head back now."

That statement caused Lucas to frown and ask, "Really Fuel?"

He nodded and answered, "Yeah, the pest next to you dragged me away from work in his fuss." His once crooked smile turned into a smirk at Claus's irritated expression. Satisfied for the moment, he looked down at their four legged friend in between them. "I think I should take Boney with me too."

Claus excused his rival-friend for the moment to also look at Boney who appeared kind of beat. The scale of their love-hate relationship was teetering to love as he asked softly, "You okay, chubby dog?"

_"I'm __**tired, **__not dying, Claus,"_ and as he looked up, he snorted in offense.

Claus's expression was mischief epitomized. He replied with a light chuckle, "who said anything about death but you, old guy?"

_"I know you, you bastard."_ The scale now teetered to the opposite direction, never at balance. While the two exchanged banter, Lucas finally spoke up.

"...Am I hearing an argument between...you and Boney?"

"Oh right-" Claus idly mumbled. He never conversed with their dog around him to avoid confusion. "Ever since I was a kid I could hear all kinds of animals because of PSI," he looked back down at Boney just to add, "fat dog included." Ignoring the growls of their aged dog for a moment, Lucas looked between them and then focused his gaze on Boney.

"...Boney?"

_"Lucas?"_ Lucas covered his mouth in shock; he still was not used to this. _"Uh, yeah. You'll uh...get used to it. Sorry I can't be your practice coach, but I wanna go home. I need rest and I can only take the quirky bastard besides you for so long without it."_

"Oh, you two, I know you're used to the pet names but I do have a name." The brunettes, that being the dog and the crafty engineer, snorted in reply and turned their backs. It just made 'the bastard pest' laugh.

For Lucas, whenever things gotten like this it made him sheepish. To put a neat end to it all he stated, "Alright. Be careful you two. We will be as well and return as soon as possible." It was a little robotically polite, if only because this was such a rehearsed line for not just Fuel and Boney, but for others as well. Once the other pair walked ahead, Claus grown a little more serious and Lucas could feel such without even asking.

"...So what are you doing out here?" He looked over at him, a single brow risen and his lips in a slight frown.

"To go see the D.C.M.C," Lucas answered.

"But why by yourself?"

"Because I had the money to go," and he was excited for many things. To confirm the rumors as false or true, and to hear the music he heard on radios in-person. To be in a new atmosphere... so many reasons he couldn't figure out how to state. Claus looked away for the moment because the answer still stung and he didn't want the stinging feeling to be shared or noticed. Lucas noticed anyway, but he always gave his twin the sense of peace of never letting that known. "And... because I had it, I didn't want to trouble you."

"Lucas, I wasn't troubled."

"Yes you were, you hate anything and everything pigmask, and yet you worked for them in order to-" That's when Lucas stopped and felt a stinging emotion himself. Even though Claus wouldn't admit the trouble he went through, he still went through _the trouble_ of dealing with the people he hate for several weeks just so Lucas could spend a few hours at a concert, and in his haste he left him and his efforts behind without realizing it. "I'm so sorry, Claus. I didn't even realize it until now...! I just got really excited and hasty-" His shoulders were gripped upon. Not roughly, neither gently, but firmly; and when he looked up, he saw his once usually hardened expression go very tender.

"It's alright," and he was soft spoken. "I understand...I used to be hasty too, remember?"

"...Still...I should apologize for that." He smiled himself, and sincerely, "but we'll both be able to go now. That should matter most."

"Right." He let his shoulders go to get a look at the road ahead of them. "Hopefully there isn't a long wait for the cable car."

"Hm?" This was something Lucas didn't know about either. "Cable car?"

"D.C.M.C's place is way up atop a mountain-like area. The car, like a train, travels on a set path to the destination. Except it's a very strong and large cable that carries it to the top. Obviously I've never been on it, I've just seen it come and go."

That made naive twin gasp in excitement.

"That sounds so cool~!" The hardened twin chuckled fondly and turned to the direction they needed to travel towards and walked on. Lucas had a pep in his step and a huge grin as well, it wasn't frequent that he was like this and it easily put Claus in a better mood. That is until he saw a cattlesnake and tensed up immediately. "Huh...what is that, Claus? It looks...like a cow with a snake neck?"

"...A cattlesnake pretty much." Time from time cattlesnakes would knock over entire train station docks when pissed or irritated, and he's _wrestled _with one before; getting pretty injured in the end. He was lucky for those odd revitalization machines that it only looked like he had 'work' bruises when he returned home that day; others, not so lucky. They lost their lives to those fearsome cattlesnakes. He did not want the same for Lucas.

"Claus...? You're so tense." He looked at the cattlesnake that was _slooowly_ hauling both its weight and head around. Like the other creatures... he was both intrigued as well as sympathetic. What it was going through did not look convenient nor comfortable.

Claus swallowed the lump in his throat. He was very prideful...but his twin's safety was on the line and his tensed demeanor was already plain as day. He decided to answer, "that thing is very, _very_ dangerous. We can't approach it what-so-_ever_ no matter how slowly it moves. It destroys station docks and killed people working here, and there's only going to be more of them. Not to mention that...their weakness lies within cold temperatures but..." Wait. He looked over at Lucas. "What kinda PSI do you have?"

"Uh..." He looked at his hands, then at the sky. Once the fever was gone he _did_ recall hearing a little 'message' in his mind but soon forgot about it. "Love...? Life up...alpha... And healing alpha...?" He blinked in confusion. It felt like he spurred out 'empty' thoughts.

"Huh... life up and and healing? I can get healing but I wonder what life up does...obviously nothing...offensive." The tension came back when he heard an 'oom' from the cattlesnake in the distance. The simple minded thing was in the middle of the road. "It's weak to the cold..." He sighed and watched it go into its resting position. "Damn it."

"You sure we can't walk past it...?"

"...I don't want to risk it, I really don't." He crossed his arms in thought. He would be up for getting stronger with another wrestle match...at the risk of his legs, but not while Lucas was around, no way, but looking at Lucas's frowning expression... "You could...run past it."

"You think?"

He turned his gaze towards the vicious cow and answered, "Yeah," while summoning a subtle electrical current beneath his curled finger tips. Lucas was a novice with his PSI abilities, he wouldn't be able to tell, at least not right away. "Ready, Lucas?"

"Yeah," he was confident in his brother's answer. He _seemed_ lax and he said it was alright so what was there to lose? "Ready..."

"Go!" He sprint ahead and kept his senses sharp for Lucas. As he thought, the cow lifted its long neck up displaying a mischievous grin in place. Lucas ran past and...Claus punched it in the head with his bare fist; now recalling he was _completely unarmed._ "Keep running, Lucas!" He cried as he was toppled over by the very same cow from the other week. The chimera was threatening to stomp his face in with its hove, but putting the power of both of his palms up, he managed to throw it off balance with his electrical palms and roll away. His heart hammered against his chest as he scrambled to get up and away, kicking up grass behind him in his haste.

"Claus!" Lucas cried as he watched the cow catch up with him and slam its tail into his back. "Oh god!" He was quite a bit of distance from the terrifying chimera, and it was a good thing because he stopped dead in his tracks.

"I'm okay!" His eyes screwed shut and he grinded his teeth; he was feeling a bit of paralysis from the slam on that area. "AGH!" He cried out again when it slammed into his back once more. The pains of last week was getting a redux. "D-Don't come! Gragh!" Neither of them realized it, but Lucas was quite a distraction.

"Claus! I can't leave you to get beaten to death!" Tears streamed down his face as he patted around for a weapon, any kind of weapon. But the two bombs he had he already used, and according to his twin he didn't have anything offensive. Just what could he do?

"Stupid fu-" This time, the tail slammed into an orange but see-through barrier. It shattered immediately, but the amount of time required the cattlesnake to lift its tail back up and slam it down was enough for Claus to turn over and and counter it with a much stronger assist Psi. He turned the tables somewhat, but he was still in such pain from the previous hits. He just put up another shield, this time carefully made of three layers. He gritted his teeth as he braced for the next hit coming by.

Lucas couldn't sit back and watch this happen. He stood up against a much bigger and terrifying foe before, he could stand up against a snickering foul natured cattlesnake. He felt his memories, emotions and spirit pool and swish around his stomach, to pulsing roughly and differently than a heart beat in his chest before it finally fired along with a yell. A powerful gust swept by, and it was selective on who and what it clawed through; that target was the cattlesnake that was no longer snickering. Even with it's size and weight it was still tossed across the plains by the cyan colored 'gust'. The rough wind blowing everywhere caught the battered twin off guard as he shielded his head and face even if it wasn't cutting or pricking him at all. When it calmed down he slowly fell on his back and stared at the clouds in the sky. He exhaled heavily when the worried face of his rosy cheeked twin loomed over him.

"That windy one...so much bigger than mines." His eyes drifted off to the still collapsed cow that was as laid out as he was. "...I wonder what it is." Sure he had it himself, but it felt much different what Lucas just dished out and for the first time as well.

"...Love." Lucas murmured; the name came to him like second nature. "Claus...can you move?" He watched as he tried to move in response but just winced and groaned in pain instead. "Okay...try not to flinch..." He softly instructed and turned him over on his stomach. He had a clue on how to make this 'PSI' thing work, and he was certainly glad he got something called 'healing' on him. He gently pressed his fingers on his back and concentrated. As he 'wished' his desire to take place, his hands tingled with warmth and a soft green glow overtook his small hands. It was a very quick action and when the glow faded, he pulled his hands back.

Claus blinked in confusion before he sat up out of reflex without noticing he wasn't stiff and numb anymore. He grinned at him and exclaimed, "you just healed my back! Heh, that's great!" As he continued grinning, Lucas then placed one hand on his cut forehead, and another on his visibly bruised shoulder. A different shade of green was here, and the wounds disappeared just like that, along with the stinging feeling with them. He gasped, "was that also healing?"

"...Life...up..." Lucas raspily replied before falling forward and into him.

"L-Lucas?" He felt his forehead on his neck, and it was burning up again. He sucked his teeth and hurriedly picked him up. Tightly held in his arms he kept the hurried pace and got away from the tamed cattlesnake up the road. He never experienced a consecutive fever like this himself, neither did he ever use up so much energy in one sitting before like Lucas must've. It gravely worried him. Hopping out of the way of the squawking sticks and over to the factory grounds, he wondered if he should carry Lucas in there or wait around with him unseen. He was going to have to go with the latter. He recalled his prior prank on the colonel pigmask from earlier. He positioned himself outside of the factory, around the back where no one ever goes and cursed under his breath, "Shit...!" He couldn't leave Lucas alone here, not even for a split moment to get him a bottle of water. He shivered with anxiety and held him close. "Lucas..."

This PSI wasn't much of an invincibility sort of thing after all.

**A/N: Sometimes I wonder if my updates have been so sporadic that the majority of the people who were reading once before forgotten this exist or not? Haha.. **


	5. Chapter 5

'Assist'.

The PSI he learned today was both troublesome and relieving. On one hand he can cure and lend strength to those he cares about much more effectively. On the other, he can't really _battle_ for them. A protector is someone who comes back to you after shielding you, after all the fighting they still stand, still _breathe_ after it's done. That's what it means to protect, isn't it? It was the example he's been given all of these years. So does it mean that he would still be doing what he's always been doing? Waiting in the back instead of actually preventing any damage? Not making much of a difference besides just existing as everything progresses on?

He grumbled lowly at his thoughts and feelings, and it captured the attention of Claus. He's been held by him the entire time he was resting the fever away.

"You're getting a lot of fevers, Lucas."

"It was just two..." The second wasn't as bad as the first. He felt more fatigue than anything else during the second; fatigue _that he still had.  
_  
"Two too many on the same day."

"I'm not used to doing a lot." And neither was Claus used to his twin doing much. It was hard for him to adjust to and he had a gut feeling that today was going to be the start of their established formula breaking; something that's been working for so long. _Changing_ felt... _strange_. This is the most Lucas done in _years_, probably ever.

"And you want to change this."

"Yes." Lucas didn't count the work of reconstructing the old man paradise with Lighter. The father of their best friend insisted on more of the heavy work while he did more personal touches for every individual there. "I...just can't stand to sit back anymore."

There was so much he could say to refute that, he just didn't know _which_ to choose from.

"This world is awful." He went with bluntest possible.

"Claus-" How does one reply to that? "You can't make me avoid it forever, Claus. The house, it's like sand in an hour glass of how long I can hide in there. Of how long you can keep things standing by yourself, the peeling _patches _of your feelings-"

"I'm _fine_."

"No _you're not_."

"Are too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not-Just-_Claus_. " Such a petty argument. As short lived as it was, it still flustered him. He was flailing out of his hold now. "Not the point!" Claus was also flustered enough to let the snappy Lucas go.

"Then what is it?"

"_We_ have to do something different now! _We_." Even though he was given a defiant expression, he did not back down, not even when he felt the tiniest of shivers travel down his neck and shoulders.

He sighed heavily, "Is this just over Duster or what?"

"No, but he was the driving factor to getting _us_ here." He stood up tall and stated, "From here on out, Claus, we push forward!"

"To where else and with what money?" Pessimist tactic two.

Which surprised Lucas.

"We can't just travel on foot?"

"We could, but what would we do about food and conditions? That stuff costs money and it's processed, you're not gonna find things in the wilderness, and you'll never know when something's gonna leap out and nip you. " He wearily waved his hand. "And you want to know how to charge up PSI when you use it all up?"

"...Sleep?"

"Hah. Only by a bit! C'mon, follow me, I'll show you how. " He's wasn't giving Lucas the chance to be an awkward turtle by pulling him along by his wrist to the front of the factory.

"Clau-" Just as he was about to complain about his fatigue and how being yanked so suddenly made him dizzy, he saw big letters that read, "Clay...man...?" It captured his attention. Before he could even change his mind to ask about it, he was hauled inside the totally metal building. He took several whiffs of the air inside and it smelt like clay... clay and really weird fumes. There was also strange noises of different kinds. Heavy stepping noises, crackling electricity and...moaning?

"What's getting at you? The noises? I know how your ears are. That weird 'muuuuwoooo' sound is a Clayman. Before you ask; it's exactly what it says on the tin."

That's very hard for Lucas to picture.

"So..."

"You're better off asking Fuel the details on them. He doesn't necessarily _like_ Claymen himself, he just knows stuff about them. "

"They're not dangerous, right?" He wanted to see!

"They could be, but they usually aren't. " He's fought one before, but he won't mention that. "You'll see one in a second, let me take you over to this thing." He leads him towards a pig shaped 'vending machine'. (but what _wasn't_ pig shaped these days?) "Okay, this thing is usually packed with food but it has other things in it as well sometimes, and..." He kept his mouth shut for next tidbit while he looked over his shoulder. If he could connect to Boney this way... and those Magypsies can have so many 'Hiveminds'... then maybe: _"Stuff packed in sugar's what charges your PSI back up." _Lucas's shocked expression implied a confirmation that he heard him.

These new senses are _awesome_.

He may be unable to get something as extravagant as luxurious cake, but he could at least get a bag of sugar cookies with some side change. He took one for himself while he handed the whole thing to Lucas. A curt nod to silently say, 'go on.' The new adventurer curiously bit into a cookie of his own, not the first time he had a sugar cookie, but this time he was curious on the _additional_ effects of a sugar cookie. Well... nothing too different?

_"You know you're going to need more than one, right?"_ He's chuckled at this.

_"You're only eating one."_ His voice was much more quiet; both out of fatigue and inexperience. Lucas worried constantly about diet and health because it just doesn't seem to agree with him ever. But he decided to have a second cookie, and just that second cookie, because he planned ahead of time to try food at the DCMC concert. The second cookie was absolutely coated in sugar, it actually bothered his teeth a bit, but he also felt a spark in his brain from this cookie. His blinks felt less heavy and he certainly didn't feel like he's stayed up thirteen hours without a break.

"Good thing about cookies is that they stick around for a long while." Hint hint. "Anyways, let's go over here." Tugging once again! He doesn't want to give Lucas the chance to object or to stray and wander, not here. Even being tugged around by Claus, he managed to be distracted. One second they're in an entirely metal building thing, the next they're in a purple colored forest. This however captures his attention foremost because he's actually _read_ about a purple colored forest way before the pigmask ever arrived.

He gasped before exclaimiing, "Murasaki forest! It's just like what I read when I was little."

_That_ slowed the hasty red head down.

"Huh, really?" He even took a quick glance around. "I was thinking they dyed it purple just because."

"Leder had books and I read about it. I always wanted to go, but the adults said it was too far... and they were too busy to go a lot of the time. I can't believe it's still here, it's still _fine_." He felt a wincing grip on his hand that made him look up at Claus in confusion. He wanted to say that it wasn't fine... it just had the least construction done to it, _so far_, but he kept that part choked down.

"It is sorta pretty, yeah." He never took the time to look at the purple colored forest. His grip on Lucas's hand loosened as he looks at the bristling lavender leaves high up in the undamaged trees.

"So what made you bring me here?" Grip on his hand came back. "Ah?"

"The cart to the cliff top is here but I kept mingling...!" They could be late, they could've missed it... and if they missed it it would mean they would have to work at the factory..


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: BACK AGAIN and for real! After I got the game back into the palms of my hands, I got a massive burst for Mother 3 and came back here. I re-read Stand up strong as well as this, so I'm ready and excited to roll! I'm aiming for once to twice a week. That way my rusty writing will stop being so horrendous... still, I tried my best here, worked on this for over a week fff. Chapter 7 and up will be the most fun for me and hopefully people reading.**

On most circumstances the ticket master would rip invalid tickets into two when late passengers arrived... But this was Claus in front him. There exists brave pigmasks that butt heads with him, but he was no pigmask, just an ordinary man in a tacky suit who took slips of papers to allow people a ride to the club.

"Your tickets are no longer valid." He chose the polite route. Fear evident in his eyes but not in his permanently pressed features.

"I can see that." He didn't _plan_ to be violent towards this person, but his tone had an aggressive edge to it. The man before him stiffened in reply to those words, but quivered when Claus heavily sighed. Luckily for him, the stocky teen merely walked away with his twin in silence. Another sigh sent out,"It'll be an hour at the least until it comes back."

"Is it a long ride?"

"Not too long but it has to let people down and up after shows. Depending on what you buy determines how long you can stay." He looked at their short-lived tickets. "...These were enough for two rounds."

"...And they're _really_ no good now?"

"All apart of their loophole to work more for them." Something he was ready to do again if it at least got Lucas a single show for today.

"So..."

"...The factory." It would've been pretty easy if it was just himself going in, but Lucas was with him, and the clever teen would not only protest, but find his way into the factory _anyway_... "We'll have to do this together, 'm sure." The humor in his statement had a slight bitter taste to it. Lucas smiled because his twin's statement only meant that he was catching on to the _fact_ that even if he told him no, he'd find a way to his side anyway. He translated his smile into a tight grip on that work gloved hand as they walked through the small portion of the forest.

"What's there to do-"

"I don't even know why you want to see," he murmured and laced fingers with him right outside of the factory. "It's not really worth it."

"It is when I get to see a glimpse of what you've been doing alone for all of these years." Lucas tenderly stated. Claus has learned to be just _a bit_ more opened with his emotions now. Not as much to the point before his life took a massive 180, or as much as it could've if he had a healthier four years... but it was still progress in the sense that he showed a sliver of a frown on his strong jaw. When his twin said things like that, it only encouraged him to at least try more. "We are each other's support, remember?" But Claus just couldn't find a way to reply, to explain, that he was better off just sticking in the old man's paradise. Building that dump up from the _inside _out was remarkable in itself, but for some reason Lucas couldn't see that, and Claus himself could never understand how he always _inspired_ Lucas to do more hard and dirty things he for whatever reason thought of as extravagant. "Claus?"

"I remember." A rare moment where a stock reply was ever perfect. "Let's go, there's a few steps to go over." In the first time in a long while, hearing a metal clang under his work shoes made his heart beat irregularly. Past the vending machines and first few steps into the next room, he bellowed, "Brown," and directed Lucas to walk ahead of him to the blue colored pigmask behind a desk. If there was a pigmask he could _ever_ 'trust' somewhat, it'd be this one.

That pigmask laughed, "Surprised t'see you back! I heard what y'did t'day!" Claus quickly made a slashing movement across his neck at that statement. "Or just to show someone the ropes?"

"I'm back for a quick shift along with him."

"Y'know that's not enough for two singles, right?" Lucas didn't like the sounds of that. "Or that's what I _would _say if the colonel was here!" It was Claus's turn to have a curious stare. "Don't worry about it. It'd be easy to let you slide through." Claus really wanted to ask, 'how in the hell are you a pigmask?' but knew it was a waste of breath and that it'd be awkward. He couldn't think of anything else to say to that; he was astounded at even his own relief he felt from that _generous_ offer... Lucas didn't want any 'take-backs', so he quickly tapped the counter with both hands. Brown snerked, "grab the pen and write your name." 

"Really?"

"Really." He watched the pen airily wave around the paper as 'Lucas' appeared on it in a fancy cursive style. "Well, won't your submission stand out like a sore thumb?" Brown was an easily humored guy, and Lucas's oddity was only tickling that sense of humor more with his curiously confused expression. "Anyway, Luca_**s**_-"

"The 's' is silent."

"Loo-kah? So what's the point of the 's' then? That's as confusing as that guy over there," he directly pointed to the fellow with a frequent half-frown. "_Clouse._"

The frown scrunched up into a sign of mild irritation as he inquired,"What of it?" Brown's not the first to make note of his name not sounding how it was spelt. To _some other person _it could even sound like 'clown house'.

Lucas bashfully answered, "I don't know why there's an s, that's just how it is... I could go on and on about how strange words can be, y'know?" He sheepishly laughed because he very well could go on such a ramble and waste plenty of time. It was rather reliving to see someone..._friendly,_ even if behind a mask.

"Eh, I'll give you that." Good natured consistency. Lucas also took into account how Claus freely let him approach and talk with this person too.

"I got it from here."... or not.

"Already know not t'stamp your name on here again, eh?" Reply or no from him, he shook his head and laughed when he watched the new guy be ushered in by the busy-body.

"Three of them should be sufficient." Lucas nodded at the statement before his eyes wandered to gray 'melting' piles of...stuff. "That's what becomes a Clayman." He almost bluntly said 'those are being recycled into new claymen', but he might as well hope that the end shift would have semi-active claymen rather than dying or already dead ones. Next room in, he informed, "those two belts are generators. One for the factory as a whole, the other to power the elevator."

"Powered by a dog and pig running...?"

"Yeah-ah..." In a change of thought process, he cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had a feeling that he had one more biscuit in there... "Heh." He whistled for the dog to stop running; the one who powered up the place. "Though he's stopped running, there's still back up energy," he explained and made his way over there. "Give it several minutes and it'll flicker, but now's not the time to demonstrate." It was obvious that Claus was going to take over for the pooch, but what about the pig? Before Lucas could say anything, the more wordly of the two further instructed him, "Get on that red platform and push the button." Lucas done as far as get onto the red platform, but not quite push the button yet. It was strange seeing Claus run in place like it was nothing... was this what he was doing these few weeks for the money to go see DCMC? "Lucas, we don't have a lot of time. When you get down there, find ones with dim light bulbs on the top of their heads and take them back up here, okay?"

"Kay," he needed to straighten his posture and his face, and he needed to show that he could do that. He pushed that button _with might, _but... he stumbled when the elevator jerked for a second before smoothly descending down. He was unable to see Claus when he looked up and it gave him an old feeling he hadn't felt for nearly four years; dread and regret. He thought to himself, "No, don't exaggerate, don't be so small. He's up there, running _in place_...and I'll be underground...underground and fine." Come to think of it, he's never been underground before. There goes one interesting fact, you _can_ breathe underground after all! But Fuel probably known that for a long while now, and any other kid who argued about it years ago... "So behind," he muttered and watched himself get closer to level to meet another pigmask of the pink variant.

"New guy, got the drill?"

"Got it." He made an 'O.K' sign with his fingers and a rolled up map was pushed in the middle of the 'o'. He didn't bother to say anything and got going.

"Muuuooonnn..." This moaning noise rose another startled jerk from Lucas. When he turned around, he saw a clayman that was very large. This one's light was glowing a pretty bright red. He raised a hand up towards it, curious to see how it felt like, if it was warm or not, but before he could it pointed towards a direction and made another noise. "Muuuuooonnnn." It was pointing to an opened passage to where many more claymen would be.

"O-oh right, uh, thanks!" Already, Lucas wondered if anyone expressed gratitude towards these creatures? The creature in question tilted its body at him and picked up its shovel again. It stared for a moment when the boy wouldn't go to where it pointed...but as curious Lucas made it, it had work to do and returned to shoveling its area; this clayman had better work ethic than Lucas clearly. He felt a great desire to talk with this Clayman, and get to feel if it was warm or not, or if it even had a pulse, but this 'work thing sure got in the way of that. 'Work'...how does Claus do this day in and out for all of these years? With 'work', you couldn't stop do anything with that sneaking feeling that someone _will_ put you through trouble, or someone else you know in trouble and you couldn't do a thing about it.

It hasn't stitched its way into his brain yet, but he was already 'seeing' what Claus had been going through these several years. He picked up his pace when he heard a weird buzzing noise he once heard near the camp grounds once. Back there it always meant doing something wrong or that shift was going to end in about an hour as Claus has previous suspected. Curiosity was still present and it led him through the lower route. He found his first Clayman.

"Oh...! You're...sagging." It was... almost humorous in a sad way. One of those reason being that it was hard to tell if its mouth was melting away or if it was genuinely frowning. Despite this, the clayman continued to shovel. "You're tired, you need to stop that..." It kept shoveling. "Hey..." He took this as his moment to grab it, and it only melted and stretched like cheese when he pulled. It made him shriek and let go, but the tired clayman shakily made a noise and fixed its arm just so it can grab that shovel again. "Why are you still-" he shook his head and decided to take the shovel away, toss it away and point at the opening like he was guided before.

"Mu-muu-ooo..." Its shovel. It was 'frowning' at it.

"You'll get it back, lets go..." It looked like he was going to have to push it. To his thankful surprise he didn't make it collapse, neither did he melt into it or roll over into a sloppy globby ball as he thought. His shape was imprinting into it until the clayman gave in and walked ahead as pushed. The cooperation made this go much faster, and already he was feeling a bit of fatigue; they're quite heavy. Still, he had to be strong and despite the beating organ in his chest protesting for a break, he stood up tall and presented the sagging clayman to the pigmask.

"Kay, take it to the room over and it'll come back on its own." It was very unnecessary, but the pigmask kicked it onto the elevator and kicked it in hard. Lucas could not withhold a gasp at what he did to that clayman. "What? It's lagging, it'swhat y'do." And the pigmask was very nonchalant about it. Lucas...did not like this helpless feeling, of not doing what's right at the moment it was called for, being at their mercy. While he's fully aware Claus would pulverize anyone or thing that'd oppose him, it'd only get his twin into trouble. He stepped onto the elevator, angry pout and all, examining the very present boot mark on the clayman. His hand couldn't put the 'shape' back, and it made him sigh in frustration. When the elevator stopped he immediately looked over at his twin, face still cemented into place.

"Lucas? What happened." It was childish, but he pointed to the boot mark on the clayman. It made him so mad. Claus couldn't see the boot mark from this angle and hopped off of the treadmill to see what was bothering Lucas. When he was close enough he saw the boot mark and sighed himself. "That guy does it a lot just to do it. Anything he says is a lie." He pressured the backside of the clayman with a thin shield to smooth the print away, and then rolled his larger palm over that pressured oval he made to give it proper shape.

Lucas could see Claus has 'fixed' a clayman's hide before. That only made his smile bigger.

"Thanks."

"Mu—uuuoo..."

"...You take it to the next room and they'll give it energy again. Then it'll go back to whatever it was doing." He was fighting back his own smile when it came to that clayman's nice response. Not only was it hard to tell each of them apart sometimes... you never knew when it was going to work itself to death, adorable gratitude or not. It just feels wasted on both parts; smiling at it, and it saying thank you to him. Despite this, he sparked his own energy into its bulb to help it have an easier time standing upright. It was just enough that it'd stop 'frowning' and walk out the room by itself.

"Whoa, look at that. It's walking just fine again!" Lucas exclaimed and clapped his hands together.

To hide his smile, he walked back to the treadmill and stated, "two more." Lucas sheepishly laughed and got back on the elevator to continue the cycle.

"Send the elevator back up, the clayman went to get charged on its own so I went on ahead." He didn't want to give that terrible pigmask eye contact and he disguised it with being on a rush to get the job done. It was at least a little truthful that way. It took a bit of a walk, but the next clayman he saw was already down to the ground, its bulb a deep dull red.

"_**Uuuoo...**_" It had an eerie, raw, and echo-like tone to it that made Lucas shiver. The _last_ one was heavy just pushing it.. what does he do about this one? He got on his knees when it looked up and repeated that chilling cry. It was almost like it was dying, and _painfully_. He gripped a chunk of its 'shoulder' and felt that it wasn't _cold_ but wasn't lukewarm like the other one. It cried out again. Lucas swallowed a lump in his throat and put his hands towards the 'life bulb' as he wanted to call it. If Claus could do it, maybe he could? He was certainly going to try his best.

He had no clue about the different kinds of energies in the world and that his PSI only worked on biological things.

The light wasn't sparking or getting any brighter and it made his heart pound something intense. Something hot and mad. It only worsened when the clayman moaned again and its face pressed into the ground. Regardless of empty results, Lucas kept trying, trying until he heard that loud buzzer again. It made him wince and grip that bulb. His hand didn't leave and it squeezed _tighter_... until he pulled it away and stared at the glow of his hands fade away.

"_**M...uu..ooo...**_"

He still had his pole with him, it extends and retracts. He didn't need it extended to do this, to break that bulb on its head. But he stopped. 'Property damage' rang in his mind and it made his eyes sting. There was suffering here and again, there wasn't anything he could do about it without punishment happening shortly after. His mind wandered back to the melting piles of something he once thought of as 'stuff'. Is that where this clayman was going? They looked like...trash. The walls of the place buzzed once again and it made him begrudgingly stand back up and run further in. Claus said 'two' more but one was down, and the walls are buzzing more and more. Did he mess up?

Two clayman was better than just one and lucky for him, this one was like the first one. He tried his PSI on it again, and like last time it didn't work. He had to ask Claus about this when they were alone somewhere. He was not an impatient one but this already ate at him, even worse when he passed that Clayman he couldn't help. He pushed his functioning clayman around it, and when it tried to look back, he kept pushing, muttering, "C'mon...c'mon, don't look, let's go..." He shoved this clayman all the way, even onto the red platform before the pigmask kicked this one too.

By the time he made it upstairs the humming green lights beeped and turned a solid red.

"That's it..." Claus stated and got off the stopped treadmill. He was worried that Lucas only brought up two of them, and when he saw his twin's expression it only worried him more. "What?" Before he gripped his shoulders, he flicked energy into the Clayman that wandered out of the room to be recharged. "What happened?"

"...Why does it work for you?" He sounded it so sad, it felt like he literally pinched a muscle in Claus's chest. "There was a dying one and I couldn't do it. It kept crying, and I wanted to shatter that bulb-"

"You didn't-" rare panic in his voice, and his fingers gripped his shoulders in tense reflex.

He quietly answered, "No. I figured it'd cause...trouble."

"Property damage..."

"Figured..." He sighed a shaky one, trying his best to calm his stinging eyes. "I only brought up two..."

"There's another day, Lucas?" Well...he could sell _something_. Even if it would require patting himself from neck to ankle to find what.

He would've, but his twin shook his head no in reply and said, "I have plenty of nick-knacks to trade for the extra." He also wanted to get his sweating twin a drink filled with 'electrolytes' after all of that jogging. "I'm sure, okay?" And he hurried on ahead before he could say or do anything about it. It made the older one of the pair sigh, scratch his eyebrow and headed over to Brown. He'd feel too weird to take any further generosity from the guy and was ready to just take some dp and go. What was truly gathered here today was experience, and it almost felt far more important than a few hours of 'titiboo' could ever hope to be right now. Even if it was painful to see Lucas this way... he got to see how things gotten, how much the world they were born into changed.

When he made it over to the desk, Lucas quickly followed in, extra dp present and waiting to see if that was enough.

"So you sold something to get the fair price? You're pretty honest." Brown's honesty was questionable. This still wasn't enough... yet he presented tickets anyway. Claus had a quick glance, but turned his head to the setting sun instead. He was incredibly flustered and at a loss. When was the last time he received such kindness from anyone not Lucas or Fuel before? He could hardly recall a recent event like this. What made him turn his head back into scene was Lucas's excited gasp and him reaching for the tickets. His smile breaking through that heavy and angry pout... it was really heart warming. He wanted to tell this peculiar pigmask _thank you_ but he didn't want to ruin the gesture, neither his image and pulled Lucas along.

Today was most truly an experience.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ugh, my writing has gotten to be such a mess. No matter the amount of time I spend on this chapter it just would not come out any better. I think it's safe to say I won't be as weekly as I thought. It's much more likely for me to be monthly until I get a better hang at doing this again. 3-6 weeks a chapter maybe. Or just...whenever it happens lol Never several months apart, though. If someone could help me find what's missing that'd be great... Regardless, I hope this continues to be enjoyed. **

Sighs exchanged when they sat down across from each other in the cable car. Claus may have been used to this, but Lucas getting such a glimpse was...troubling. When he was _oblivious_ he was much more perkier, it was in the way his eyes shined whenever they saw each other_._ Now he sulked before him, and with his focus, he could easily feel a heavy feeling that he was sure was in Lucas's heart. Before he could begin some kind of casual conversation, his twin offered an orange colored beverage.

"I see you get more energized after drinking these..."

"...Thanks." He twisted the cap off and swung it down. It became habit to be able to swing a bottle of these down in an instant to keep going. While the taste wasn't so great, he reminded himself it was better he had this or water rather than large city colas or alcohol at the club.

"Claus, could you answer my question from before?"

"...It's because your energy is compatible with biological things. People and animals without metal attachments, maybe even plants. Clay, while naturally from the ground... something is animating them and with complex emotions. I don't know how a tiny red bulb on their heads does this but it does. Their lives are really fragile... Sometimes over charging makes it pop, and they can only be recharged so many times regardless." His twin had cupped his own handful of knowledge from insisting that he no longer hide things from him, so he was no longer sparing the details. "If I could, I'd charge them myself it'd be less screwed, but Fuel warned against that."

"But you did right in front of me?"

A small half grin on his face formed as he stated,"Only a flick of my energy. While my energy's safer and nicely transferred to them, my 'signature' could be left swirling inside the ball. Fuel warned against it because they could find it in the clayman, read and use my information, and try to take me away." The grin disappeared the more he explained. It ended with him snorting.

"...Take you away, Claus?"

"...Didn't want to worry you so I didn't say anything, but, they're starting to try to take me by force." He quickly rose his hands up and continued, "He's heavily researching counters...and I trust him. He's never let us down." He brushed his red hair back and softly laughed, "They'll never get _this_." Silence hung for what felt like for several seconds, and his hand lowered into his lap. Instead of looking into a pair of darkening blue eyes, he looked out of the window. "You can see all of the purple and teal colors right now from this height." An unnatural change of pace in the conversation, but it started to feel like some sort of mistake has been made today. "You should hurry and look before you'll have to pay to use those binoculars."

….

It wasn't until now he forgotten how much silence bothered him.

"What if you just disappeared one day-"

"It won't _ever_ happen-"

"And there's nothing I would be able to do about it-"

"It would never happen, Luca-"

"They can do whatever they want-"

"I'm _strong! _They're-"

"This is a case where quantity wins over quality!" Volume raised, tears spilled. "You're being reckless all over again!"

"No I'm not!" Tears in view may have faltered him most, but being accused of being reckless roused a defensive reflex out of him. "I swore I would never be that reckless again after that day, Lucas! I wouldn't ever put myself on the line or let myself just get swept away!"

"But I just _said_-"

"_You're_ the one who would be reckless if you thought about trying to fight them! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you weak, but everything with them is a game that sadly must be played on a daily basis. They'd really have to be on their last stand to send a wave of soldiers or chimeras at me, and I'll still fight until I white out." After the statement, he finally approached his twin and firmly placed his hands on his shoulders. "So no crying yet."

"What do you mean by _'yet'_...?"

"I'm acknowledging the dangers, but I'm also stating I'll put up _the_ biggest fight _ever_ before _anything_ goes down, Lucas." He didn't yell once, but his throat felt so scratchy and dried. He kept firm, not even allowing himself a gulp or two until his twin slipped a tiny laugh. Even just by a little bit, it felt pretty good, even_ if _Lucas was laughing at him. He smiled and wiped his better rested eyes, as well as smoothed the trails of tears from his cheeks away. "You need to look cool to go into Titiboo." 

"...Seriously?" Blue eyes began to express curiosity rather than disdain. The mention of the club brought back not just their efforts, but the Claymen he felt that were involuntary stepping stones to even getting this ride. The thought of their sacrifices lead those curious eyes to the window, but sadly the clearest view was just about gone.

"Heh, nah." With the sight of that innocent blond head faced out the window, he took the opportunity to ruffle his pretty and feathery hair. "Those binoculars are cheap, don't fret."

"We could wait until the way back?"

"Don't fret, it's a single buck. I was just trying to make you look earlier." He snickered when he was nudged. "Nudges aren't _gentle_, Lucas." Another noogie given when he was nudged harder. "Yeah, like that!"

"You talk about being cool and then you mess up my hair!"

"Shaggy hair's 'in'.~" He flipped his red bangs a bit to make it even more messy. "Watch, discounts will surely happen."

"What do you mean? What-" Before he could complain at him, his timid nature got the best of him when the cable car jerked momentarily. He winced and gripped his twin's arm.

"Never mind it, we're here." With that statement, he looped his arm with a slender one covered in goosebumps. Claus didn't even notice that his hardened face formed a clear smile on his features when he looked at him. "Without further ado, let's go. I'm actually excited!"

_Excited._ ... Lucas hadn't heard that word in such a context for nearly five years. It captivated him so much that even his first step out of the car didn't top 'I'm actually excited'. He kept staring at what he could see of his face, and with what little he could see was that he _wasn't _just making some kind of pep talk. He became light footed, and wherever Claus went, he flowed after him like a kite in a rush of wind. It felt like the old days, and his imagination, his _wishful thinking_, was nearly powerful enough to kick in to change the entire area before his eyes to what things were years ago.

"Here. You should really look, even if purple isn't your favorite color." A coin being placed in his hands nearly ruined it, but it was still mostly intact.

"I still like purple." His quiet voice indirectly invited Claus to shoo him over to the stand, but he didn't mind. These '_coins_' are rather large and flat...like skipping stones. But he knew that unlike stones, they weren't something you'd want to toss to see how far it'd go. These things were something you held onto unless necessary for your day to day things that shouldn't cost a thing. He looked back over to Claus's sparkling eyes when he inserted the coin into the slot. His eyes wanted to stay _there _because it felt like forever since they've last looked like that, but the coin was already inserted and nothing of effort should ever be wasted. The binoculars were on the surprisingly heavy side, even when it came to simply rising the measurement of the stand to a height where he didn't have to crouch too much to look through it.

The sight looked like the illustrations he saw in Leder's books as a child, but less washed out. Somewhere he always wanted to go and see himself and he was finally here. "Up higher than I would've ever thought..."

Claus chuckled an, "Eh?"

"I don't think we would've been able to climb so high if we ever came here on our own in the past," Lucas chuckled in reply. "...I _want_ to appreciate it..." 

"...But?"

"Pigmasks..." They 'made' this possible. They've done more _damage_ than good, and right as he thought of this, his binoculars settled upon a large yellow tower structure. "Claus, what is that?"

"Dunno..." It didn't look as big to him as it did to Lucas, but he can faintly see something in the direction the binoculars were directed to.

"It's ticking now?" He pulled back to examine the viewing device.

"It's runnin' out of time," he stated and withdrew another coin to look himself. "You can go up ahead, I'll meet you there after I examine it." Lucas was surprised and wary of the permission given. He's used to his twin being much more hard-headed and stubborn about things he's _against_ and disagrees with. Sure, he argued for a little while when he said he wanted to see more... but he would've thought they'd argue in rounds rather than just once and briefly. He felt oblivious before, but this new case of obliviousness felt even worse. "There's nothing up here, Lucas. Don't worry."

That was the least of his worries, but he forced a 'bashful' laugh and walked the opposite direction.

"Ah..." A bridge, and an old fashioned one... His heart was climbing up to his throat already. Bridges were a Mt. Oriander thing, a place he could never bring himself to visit again. His eye lashes fluttered as he looked down and saw how high up he was. He willed himself to take a step, and when he saw how the bridge moved a bit, it made him take it back and stay on solid ground again. _'Deep breathers'._ His mental voice encouraged and he re-took that first step. He felt heat travel down his neck as he willed his other foot on it. '_Claus seen and been through worse. Get over yourself, Lucas. It's a bridge.'_ This bridge didn't creak and sway like the bridges he compared this one to, but yet he was so much more afraid of it. Closing his eyes would feel like taking the easy way out when he felt like he had to push himself _like Claus_ and just do it. His knees didn't actually 'pop' with movements, but with his mindset it sure felt like they had. Crossing to the other side took all of forty-five seconds!

_Shiver._

He felt a new appreciation for restricted traffic of that area. No one seeing his bridge 'adventure' was a tiny blessing to him. Spared of displaying his timid nature to others. The area wasn't totally barren, past the strange elephant statues was two large guys.

"What're you doing here?" The guy who spoke first spoke had a beard that looked like it came from his _neck_. It was fascinating even past his gruff and intimidating tone. "What's with that dude below lettin' kids up here?"

"I dunno man." The other guy was bald, much balder than his father ever was and he appeared younger too.

"I'm not a kid." He just has big curious eyes.

Bald guy walked down a stair and grumbled, "Bet you are." He took another step forward when Lucas walked back. "Step further back than what you just took and don't give me that face." That time Lucas didn't take a step back and his face only changed just a bit. Confrontation was still not his forte, but he did not like being treated this way. "Don't make me have to fling you by your dangly pale arm, kid."

"You won't." He wasn't sure on the threat, giving the kinds of things these new people do to others and animals... but what he was sure of was that Claus was very much on his way to be far more intimidating than they could ever hope to be in their life times. "I wouldn't touch me." At this point, with his annoyance, he wanted to make it worse for them. Bait was taken when his wrist was grabbed and yanked at for further intimidation. He closed his eyes this time, but his ears were very much opened. His wrist was free after the sound of flesh being punched and he took that opportunity to get far behind his aggressive half.

"You just got the sheen punched off your bald head and there's more where that came from." Definitely for safety reasons, Lucas opened up his eyes to see what was going on. Bald guy and Neck beard were banding together against his twin. He was more worried about the large and round hairy man rather than the short and stocky bald one who was knocked over yet against by Claus's fist. He was feeling PSI pool in his chest and stomach again when the larger guard growled and looked like he was getting ready to flop over and body-slam his twin. He _was_ and Claus used the large window to link together hits; a fist curving up to his chin, his head into his upper abdomen, and a knee right in between his legs.

Opponent number two fell over with a much heavier thud, but Claus was much more focused on the kink in his neck from that headbutt. That kink that went away the moment Lucas's PSI filled hands rubbed there.

"Heh, thanks." He felt that magic of his pooling more around the other areas than it had to, while it was more concentrated on the pain in his neck. He knew the meaning behind that, but he decided to bring that up later. When he took a step past the men on the floor, the door opened and showed a pink haired woman. Out of the tens of new people he saw over the years there was never any other person with pink hair.

"Wow, you guys are terrible, all of you." She covered her mouth with a gloved hand and giggled. "I don't know whether to blame the over presumptuous bodyguards for this mess or you for knocking them out."

He snorted and replied, "They tried to strike first."

"Oh~ Somebody's confident!" She on the other hand, stepped right on top of the round man, heels and all. "Well I see you _really_ want in! So c'mon, boys, cmon." Claus couldn't help but notice how this girl deliberately wanted to step on the guy, not that he cared about him, it was just interesting in a way. Still, he didn't step on sprawled limbs in his way and looked back to make sure Lucas was following. He was, but he was staring at the pink haired girl for another reason. Eyes round and full again, honed on her pink colored hair... but everything else was off and that's what made him most curious. Curiosity was popped when a bigger hand tugged him along and inside the building onto plush floors.

Red and Yellow everywhere.

Blinking lights that emulated a sparkling illusion, and girls arguably prettier but similar to Tessie just about everywhere. Smell of foreign foods and chatter in all corners of the place. Even though his stomach growled, he knew they didn't have a lot of money left, and when his eyes drifted to the menu...the prices were crazy to him. He could compare one king burger to several groceries in its place! Soda was probably more reasonable...but not filling or favorable to his pallet...

"Hey~ doe eyes, over here!" When he looked over, he saw the last moment of her calling out to him before she was nudged by Claus with an expression he always had for Fuel... Did he know her? She whispered something to him he couldn't hear, and it made him curiously look between the two. Just as he opened his mouth to speak to them, his twin huffed and pushed through the doors. Now she whispered something similar to him. "Hey, it's me. Chick who ate your stuff and crashed on your couch."

_Kumatora?_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter is seriously one of the worst I've written. I've done it over four times and I still can't feel satisfied with it. But I can't hold this story back any longer. I just need to accept this chapter sucks and move this story on. **

The plucky waitress leaned in further and continued, "I practically get no break here as a waitress, man. As soon as every day ends I just wanna crash b'fore it starts all over again." She snorted and paid no mind that she was close enough to make his shaggy bangs flop around. "So I never got the chance to go to town and yank you guys over 'ere. I mean, _damn_, what took y'guys so long? Everyone and their granny came here when it opened! Always after work and it boomed again when the 'new guy' got here! Everyone was killer curious for that!"

"I-" He was ready to desperately explain until he remembered he could talk to her through a 'mind link'; a way to keep it private... But no less awkward. "_We're here now-_"

"_Now-_" Talking like this was second nature to her, but to hear that quiet and gentle voice of his in her mind was quite surprising. "Oh." A close call from an almost characteristic 'whoa'_._ "_Slow poke._"

"_T-that is __**not **__the main concern__...! If you're here then Duster must be here._" When he saw her nod, the biggest sigh of relief left his lungs which felt more like his heart. It didn't matter if people kept glancing at a scene that looked like it made no sense, what mattered most was that Duster was alright. _"But why didn't he come bac-"_ He was shoved through the oddly plush doors before he could even finish. "Ack! Ku—agh!" As well as pushed into a chair he could've flipped over with if Claus hadn't steadied it with his boot; and then a mischievous pair of violet eyes met with a pair of angry green ones soon after.

"_Hey, hey, even years later you only glare at me."_ The glare stayed put. She gave a sweet smile in reply and stated, "Name's Violet, cuties~ What do you want tonight?"

"Ask later." If words could also glare...

Lucas stumbled out a, "What," as he clumsily fit himself into his seat. His tone was flat, but his bewilderment was very present on his face. How did she do this? Flip through these personalities in an instant and very easily go between telepathic speech to giggly 'normal' speech like it was nothing? He was very focused on all the wrong things when he was simply asked-

"What do _you _want to drink, silly bumpkin~?"

"...Water?" While he was fully aware that this request wasn't on the menu, how hard could it be to deliver something like water?

"Water...?" Hard apparently.

"Pfft. Who ordered water? Oh, Lucas! Should've known even if it's shocking to see you here!"

"Shut up, Thomas."

"Howdy to you too, Claus..."

He waved off the man and returned to talking to 'Violet'. His tone not any more friendly than before, "If _you_ insist... A fishbowl of punch." He knew this was a pricy item, but he decided to take a gamble with Kumatora. She insisted, and with her 'welcoming' gestures, _surely_ she would buy them a nice drink. She left and Lucas looked over at his twin.

"_Punch...? Fishbowl?_"

"_It's a really large cup that's like a bowl. Punch taste fruity and should be filled to the brim with sugar. I'm not sure where the name 'punch' comes from, but eh, details._" Lucas of course frowned at the idea of a large serving of liquid sugar. Instead of voicing his concerns, he took a look around the room. He really didn't like the design; everything being plush was weird. He couldn't picture everything around him being so thick and soft with the exact same outer texture that felt like short fur. Purple, red, and yellow were such weird colors to put together that stood out _too_ much... and the oddly shaped tables and chairs... He couldn't understand it, and all of what he just absorbed went right out the window when he saw an obscenely huge person laying his back on the biggest couch far in the front. _"That's 'fierce pork trooper'."_

"_...Why is he so large?_" His arms were akin to boulders with hands just as large.

"_I dunno. Same way everything else is made now days, I guess." _Those very large arms shifted, and a set of long hair resting on each arm came clear to the twins. One thick and brown, the other thin and blonde_. "Gross."_

"_I'd be afraid of being crushed..."_

"_Only you, Lucas. I swear."_

"_What?" _What did he say that was so strange this time?

"_Never mind it, not important... did she tell you anything? She told me squat and made me take a seat."_

"_Duster's here but she didn't tell me anything else..._"

"_Helpful gal, a'int she?" _

"_...I think she wants us to make up for never being here..." _He sheepishly rubbed his forehead with his index finger. He was unsure about Claus and Kumatora, but the constant talk through minds was giving him a headache that he was trying to keep under wraps. He tapped his smooth fingers on rough knuckles for the attention of the owner before stating, "Any idea on how long we'll sit around doing nothing..?"

"Nope." He's always been a sharp one under his pointed red hair. He eyed the blue eyes of Lucas and asked, "It hurts? You're nauseous?" He wouldn't be able to do much here besides...take him to some quieter corner and complain at 'Violet' for some water and ice, but it'd be something.

"...Yeah, but not nauseous."

"Okay, relax, and eat more of those cookies."

"What? But wouldn't that-"

"Drop normal conventions from here on out." His volume lowered to add, "You're not normal anymore..."

"Ah..." He took out his cookies and bit down on one.

"Sugar won't have the effect it used to on you anymore...stomach aches and related illnesses pretty much won't happen." Weight gain happened, and he was always conscious of that. "I get that it takes time to get used to, though." He smiled after that statement, and then looked off toward the empty stage, even past the large arms of that pigmask up front. Lucas's kept his eyes on his twin. What he found worst of all was that Claus, and likely Kumatora, wouldn't be able to help him cope very much. He didn't have fire like her, or lightning like him... he healed, something he saw neither of them do. Healing could be amazing if... people actually got hurt, which he in no way wanted to happen to his friends.

"No, _no_. You saved Claus's back out there," he mentally scolded himself. "And the next time Fuel has burns or sore shoulders, you can help with that too. And maybe you won't ever get poisoned with a new...not...normal body like this one? There's quirks. _Good_ quirks..." Another good 'quirk' he deduced so far, was that he didn't have to do odd things to conceal his powers from the general public like Claus had to when he was first starting out; keeping those very knuckles curled rather than pointed. He got fevers...but they all got fevers and that's not a 'good quirk' anyways. He sighed again as well ate another cookie. Perhaps _this_ could be a good quirk. He wasn't in love with sweets like his brother was, but they were still nice; and perhaps he could appreciate them more now that they didn't come with consequences of eating an imbalance of them? ...Sigh.

"You're sighing a lot," his twin inquired while keeping his sight focused on the empty ahead. Lucas sighed again and then sheepishly scratched his forehead. He turned around to look at that bashful face that always made him smile. "You had the choice. Or does it feel like you didn't?"

"I know I had the choice...and I don't regret it," he sighed softly this time. "I just don't feel... useful?"

"Why?" He gave him only a moment to answer, and when he didn't receive one he continued. "We don't really blast stuff at random I'm sure- Maybe I do to return some karma, but I need to keep odd jobs so I don't as often as I could. Her fire isn't that useful in everyday terms, and shields are as circumstantial as healing would be so~ Why?" He was pouted at and it made him state softly, "Not useless then." That was his conclusion, and if Lucas needed an explanation...

"But-" He would get knocked on the head. "Ow!" Even with that quiet hiss his forehead was nudged with an imposing index finger before a voice rang in his head once again.

"_If any of us were to get gravely injured, we'd be at misfortune's door. With you here... we can all feel safer, comfortable... and maybe even braver. It'll take time, Lucas, but...It's fitting for you. Even before you took on PSI..." _There was a long silence in Lucas's mind. Even when Claus turned away again, he expected, _waited_ for him to finish his sentence.

"_...Claus?_" His stare and curiosity was intense enough to take him out of the increasingly chatty climate until a large glass was placed in between his face and the back of Claus' head. "Ah- This is...huge." 

"That's what a fish bowl is known for, sweet stuff." And this time, he was patted on his head. Good thing his thick hair cushioned the impact; it'd have been too much for his too wired mind.

"Eh? It's not red..." The other suspiciously observed.

"It's _punsch,_ unique to Titiboo~." She giggled before sending a 'tap-line' to the redhead. _"I know how you roll, trick. You're lucky I have a lot of spare cash but just this, got it?"_ A smirk was a good enough answer. Whether it was an invite to fight later or a humored 'got it'. She whipped her long pigtails on the way out of the show room. His smirk stayed plastered where Violet once stood until he heard the soft crushing noise of a pineapple being bitten into; and cautiously at that. Lucas' eyes were fairly round with curiosity but focused. The second time, he took a bigger bite of the pineapple wedge before finally looking up surprised.

"Oh you want to try this?"

"The pineapple?" A curious blink in reply caused him to lightly slap his own forehead. Right, that was a 'foreign fruit' not usual to Tazmilly. Well, if he could believe it was foreign and not engineered like everything else. "I never had it before..." It kind of worried him that Lucas bit into it so hastily, but he reached out for the bitten wedge to join in on the taste. Once the fleshy and moist fruit was in-between his fingers, he gave it a quick smell and found that he liked the scent, at least. It gave him a positive signal in his gut before biting. It felt kind of like biting into a harder orange right away, same acidic texture from the juice too; which was a little unpleasant at first until the new flavor took over. "Mmm."

"It tastes nothing like an apple, though."

Claus chuckled his reply, "Think of it like that 'fruit punch' there..."

"I guess so." He at least recognized straws when he saw one and took a sip. His eyes closed and his nose crinkled. It was like a cool burn to the roof of his mouth and a little in his nose, and when he swallowed, the sensation persisted and even lingered. It took a second sip to fully get the sweet taste, and the burn was a little less strong than before. The feeling lingered on his lips the most and he focused on licking them to make that go away.

"Eh?" He swung the straw over his way and took as big of a sip one could take with a straw. He felt the similar burn, and he let it sit to capture the sweet taste. Once the quick introduction was established he kept on drinking. He liked the flavor and he actually liked the burn as well—it was refreshing.

"Claus," Lucas laughed at the way he kept drinking it. "You probably pick up the taste better than me because it's really sweet." He fully believed his statement, but the real meaning behind it was to fluster Claus enough into letting the straw go and it went successfully. He chuckled at the dramatic huff of his and returned to sipping. His nose crinkled a bit more as he drank, even the scent had a physical tickle to it. When he drank a little more consistently, it sat in his chest. He called it quits and pushed the straw over to Claus again. "I feel pretty refreshed from that, actually." It was his turn to get no reply but it was in order to drink more. "I still wouldn't drink too much, though. Something about it..."

He slowed his sipping down. As much as he wanted to murder this bowl, he recalled a trait of common sense: 'too much of anything is no good'. His childhood gave him a 'good' number of slaps to the face with it. He let the straw go and passed it over Lucas's way. He saw he didn't really want it, and it made him crave once again... but if there was one thing he mastered it was resistance. He sighed and almost slumped over on the table until he heard the room be taken over by a round of applause. He felt somewhat heavier, but not really sleepier. This kind of alerted fatigue has been around for most of his life so it didn't bring much alarm. There they were, the set of people they were waiting for, walking onto stage in a neat line before they took position to where their sounds would rock most. A small and excited gasp behind him made his eyes wander towards the delighted sound.

"He's right there..." Breathless. "I wonder did he grow that out these several years?" He whispered excitedly, his eyes still not tearing away from a familiar and healthy face. "Wow, he looks the most sharp we've ever seen him." His twin had no answers, just a light chuckle.

"Tonda gossa!"

"Huh, sounds kinda cool." Duster really has sharpened up. He had the theory he hadn't seen him as often as Lucas, but from the night that he saw him all that time ago he held a weird scent, bed head, and a very slumped posture. Now he looked pretty crisp in his white and pink colors, his hair was larger and curlier, similar to the way he saw another fro-wielder have... He just couldn't confirm his scent from here. "A bass, huh..." He continued to observe the other details, like how he still had a limp but wasn't as slouched as before. Confidence?

"Looks heavy." The other was more into what he was positioning in his hold as he sat down.

"Think it is, yeah." The music begun and started out with what looked like a guitar but sounded so different. The keyboard didn't sound too much like a piano despite it's appearance; the player even looked like a paler Reggie. No matter how he tried to analyze more, his efforts met with a pang to the center of his head whenever the guitar came in, and the saxophone had a high-note that sounded more like a screech right now. Lucas's clapping to the music's rhythm wasn't helping but...he could deal for him. He was having a good time, his efforts were rewarded by the sight of Duster being healthy and spruced up, and they had a taste of luxury; headaches aside. Today's something to remember.

Eyebrows crinkled when the room once again erupted into an applause. He sighed with relief when it stopped so that a player named O.J could speak through his echoing mic. Straw teetered its way over so he went ahead and decided to finish the job. It was satisfyingly distracting, if short lived.

"Love for an encore, but, we gotta roll early tonight! Tomorrow'll be rad, I swear upon it!"

"We love you!"

"Ugh.." He groaned and palmed his face, he couldn't hide it anymore. With one eye opened for view he saw his twin frown. "Don't worry 'bout it...they'll flood right out." Just as he spoke, people rose out of their seats, some clumsier than others with the knocking over of chairs. They kept ruthlessly pushing right on out. Another band that consisted of the trampling of many kinds of shoes and chatters. No 'excuse me' muttered for bumping into their table, they just kept on going, the room quieting down in consequence.

"Ah..." He bit his bottom lip to try and wake his senses up; they felt so dull. He could barely scan the tables until the room was as empty as possible. It practically was except for that large man up ahead who was very distracting. He pouted and kept watching him just sit there, rocking the girls in his arms, _laughing._

"He's not paying attention..." Claus was suspicious of his ears being as 'wild' as his nose... but he couldn't network minds right now. A cool touch to his forehead made a motion for his neck to turn but it instead leaned into that soothing touch. "...Not what I meant," he murmured. He still felt sluggish, but the headache was gone. Smile met smile, before Lucas gotten up and walked around the room casually, but carefully.

Bits of DP on tables under menus, half pack of gum in a paper red bag, a red ribbon in a seat... and the rest, junk. He kept an eye on the large man with the hearty laughter up ahead, but Claus was right, he wasn't paying attention at all. Quietly and quickly back to his own table, he passed a square of gum over and slipped the other two squares in a pouch in a fanny-pack.

"_Ninety-five..."  
_

"_And that should cover a week of breakfast._"

"_I feel like we should leave..."_

"_Yeah, probably to the bathrooms or something._" He stated and got up from his seat. He left 25 on the table, and with a curt nod they were out. Nobody forming lines, pamphlets were left on the ground, some trampled on. A few girls wandering back in to collect tips that were no longer there... and the two walked right over to the bathrooms. Lingering around in the wrong places was asking to be picked up. Genuinely having to go was all the more convenient. Lucas went first, and to his luck the bathroom system was similar to Yado's. Same ol' 'Peeing on a wall', same ol' pedal to flush it. Sink was paradoxically filthy, however...and he slinked far away from it on the way out.

"How?"

"Eh?"

"The sink." The more worldly one snerked. "What?"

"There's plenty more like that." He answered and walked in.

"How?" Being grabbed on the shoulder during his severe confusion nearly made him jump through that bathroom door, but luckily for him, he was turned around.

"_God_ why did you guys drink the whole damn bowl? No one does that!" Kumatora harshly whispered.

"Uh..." Being too slow he was jerked by the shoulders which promptly scrunched up in response. "Because if we didn't it'd be wasteful!" He answered while shutting his eyes tight, expecting a hit he didn't receive. Blue eyes slowly opened to look at confused violet ones. "And it tasted amazing?" He swallowed his nervousness down that tasted like it had a dash of embarrassment.

"And you," she started when the door knob twisted. Once opened, and with direct eye contact, she added, "You must've drank more, pissin' a waterfall 'n' all."

"Like a champ."

"Guys..." Lucas quietly chimed in. "_Duster_...Reuniting after so long, etcetera."

"Yeah, yeah." Kumatora mumbled and walked on ahead. "Got an entrance over 'ere. Let's go."

That secret entrance was really just a rug over a hole and a rope ladder.

"How dangerous." Two sets of eyes on him made him look to the ground and the side before being the first one to climb down it. He hated rope _anything_; the noise it makes, the twist and wobble, the feeling of instability, the potential to snap at what felt like any moment... For a sense of clarity he let go early to land on ground that was just as unstable. A nasty squish and a bit of a sink in... he stepped aside to look down and saw it was a really muddy tunnel. There's stepping on a clay-like substance, then there's _this_.

"The hell's a goopy cave like this doing inside of here?"

"I unno, just exists."

"Good answer, gal."

"Stop calling me 'gal', dick."

"Not my fault that you _aren't_ the most informing gal around." An angrier huff from her caused the more placid of the trio to look up in disapproval, even if he couldn't be seen at this moment. "Can't do anything-"

"Claus, stop." A different, heavier huff echoed this time. He would walk ahead but right now, if he trusted Claus's nature to behave.

"Damn, this thing is wobbling a lot."

"No it isn't."

"You're the daily hole trecker-"

"_Guys!_"

"Ugh," was the only thing that synced between the three of them... "Whatever, it's a straight forward path from here. And watch out for really fat slugs from falling onto your head, Lucas."

"Why me?"

"You're tallest, duh." She pushed him ahead and was soon pushed herself, nearly stumbling face front into the mud if Lucas hadn't turned around and caught her.

"She pushed first." It's been...actually not too long ago since he's felt irritation towards Claus. He wanted it to be a long time, but something about him today was _grating_. Claus didn't like these looks, and was stuck between giving Kumatora more trouble or seething to himself about her. He watched his twin keep walking ahead until he stopped. "What-"

"Kumatora, please go on ahead," Lucas sighed. He didn't walk on until she walked on ahead. Instead of his previous, angrier glances, it was a sad one. A plead for him to stop and cooperate. _"Things change today, remember?" _He let Claus frown at him to be fair to his feelings, but he _planned_ to tell him over and over if he had to. To not worsen the hit to his feelings, he only silently admired the sight of PSI ice fending off the slugs. Polar opposite elements was interesting, and it kinda worked with her hair and eyes when he thought about it. The path was as straight forward as stated and there was yet another ladder to climb...and with a sweeter scent wafting down it.

He saw it as something symbolic.

**A/N: I am anticipating potential internet troubles on the 31st of January. So even though I've got over this massive road block and do plan to write chapters a bit more quicker regardless of internet or not... just need to get that out there. I know my track record has been very slow, but I don't want to send off any alarms that I'm giving up on this story. Not at all, it will reach it's end. I'll keep going until it becomes a potentially fat 60+ chapter story! I also stood up to 3:30 am you guys. Sob sob. IT'S OUT. THE ROAD BLOCK IS GONE omg. Even though it sucks! Next ones will be better (I hope for 9, though. Titiboo arc is more awkward to write than I've anticipated. VERY high hopes after they're out, though!)**


	9. Chapter 9

It's really depressing for me to go ahead and do this, but this is discontinued. I just thought I should go ahead and let people know. I thought about it a lot, and over the week finally decided to put the axe on this. It feels like a massive flop, a failure I cannot work with, and it's disheartening. It also feels like it just didn't take off like Stand up strong had. Maybe someday I will try again from the beginning. But I want to say it's safer to not hope for me to.

I'm better off moving on to other projects. This weighed me down a lot and I just really need to let it go. I'm glad SuS worked out, but it really sucks this didn't.


End file.
